COP16, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), is approaching its final stretch amid pressures for funding and a dizzying agenda of discussions related, among other issues, to the participation of indigenous and Afro peoples, species trafficking, the climate crisis and the critical pending issues of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework – the agreement of four goals and 23 targets that 190 countries agreed to meet by 2030 to slow down the planetary crisis.

The most urgent environmental problems will continue to be discussed until November 1, with the first negotiations already outlined and several defining issues. Dejusticia highlights some of the most important issues that have taken place and that are fundamental to understand the pulse of the talks between delegates from more than 190 countries.

1. Support added to the Biodiversity Action Plan submitted by Colombia

As host country, Colombia presented the ambitious plan until 2030 that will be the guide to address the accelerated loss of biodiversity and ecosystems. This Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) has six national objectives aligned with the 23 global ones, 30 strategic actions and more than 80 indicators. These actions involve 15 ministerial portfolios and the National Planning Department.

The plan includes concrete actions in territorial planning, management of environmental information and ecosystem services, governance, conservation and care of nature. As for the cost of these goals, the initial calculations of the BAP indicate that, to achieve their implementation, the country will need about $14.48 trillion pesos, which would require mobilizing additional resources estimated at $302 billion pesos per year.

The PAB also provided an overview in terms of the country’s biodiversity conservation: although there are still no detailed and complete biological inventories for the entire territory, Colombia has 54,871 species registered in the Global Biodiversity Information Infrastructure (GBIF) for the different biological groups. It is estimated that 34 species of mammals, 367 amphibians, 66 birds, 115 reptiles, 1,500 plants and 1,543 orchids are endemic. However, 1,203 species have been identified in different threat categories. Of these, 173 are critically endangered, 390 are endangered and 640 are in the vulnerable category.

Taking stock of the initial working spaces, Susana Muhamad, Minister of Environment and COP16 President, explained that “we have at least two room documents for COP16, five room documents for the Cartagena Protocol and five room documents for the Nagoya Protocol. We have had the largest participation, with 20,000 delegates and more than 40,000 people visiting the Green Zone”.

2. Crucial alliances and coalitions concretize the impact of indigenous peoples in conservation plans

An unprecedented alliance, called the Amazon G9, was presented by indigenous communities from nine Amazon countries (including Colombia, Brazil and Peru), representing 511 peoples of the Amazon region. In their declaration, this group reaffirmed their role as guardians of biodiversity and demanded land titling and direct funding to protect the Amazon.

“In the face of the threats we face, the exploitation of natural resources, deforestation, hydrocarbon exploitation, mining, organized crime, climate variability, the invasion and expansion of the agricultural frontier, the dispossession of our territories, we reaffirm our ancestral commitment to be strategic partners in the protection and conservation of biodiversity and life,” they explain in their statement.

Another heated discussion related to the knowledge of local communities has to do with the sharing of the benefits of genetic resources. In this regard, a difficult and challenging debate is underway on the creation of a global fund in which pharmaceutical companies and other users of these resources can compensate local communities that protect biodiversity.

3. Recognition of Afro-descendant communities, support for the biogeographic Chocó, and some diplomatic disagreements.

Representatives of the Afro-Colombian, Raizal and Palenquero communities ratified their commitment to the defense of biodiversity and expressed the need to be taken into account in decision-making, always with the recognition of their ancestral knowledge.  One of the most debated topics was the inclusion of these communities in the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Colombia has explicitly proposed that its role in ecosystem protection be recognized, with its inclusion and explicit mention in Article 8J of the Convention on Biological Diversity. However, this proposal had some diplomatic clashes at the beginning of COP16, with marked opposition from the negotiating group of African countries, as expressed by the delegate of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), spokesperson of this bloc. Final considerations on this issue are expected to be agreed this week.

Beyond these diplomatic frictions and quarrels, the most encouraging news was for the biogeographic Chocó – an ecosystem of more than 9,000 species of vascular plants, 200 mammals, 600 birds, 100 reptiles and 120 amphibians, with approximately 25% of species endemic to the region. The Government of Colombia and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) announced the creation of a multidonor fund for its conservation and restoration.

Regarding the biocultural approach to conservation, Paulo Ilich Bacca, deputy director of Dejusticia, explained that “people need to be able to maintain their traditional knowledge, their biosaberes. This ensures the possibility of having a pluriverse of views and guaranteeing biological and cultural diversity”.

4. The role of the peasantry in the dialogues and negotiations.

Before the start of COP16, civil society provided several opportunities for dialogue in which we insisted that, due to their direct and particular link to the land, peasant communities play a crucial role in the conservation and local management of nature, even though historically they have enjoyed little recognition in this area.

This gap led to the fact that, in Cali and for the first time in the history of this international scenario on biodiversity, the peasantry was recognized as a subject and took part in the discussions in the COP working groups. The novelty is relevant, but insufficient, since peasants are still not present in the COP decision-making scenarios, and no real agreement has yet been reached among the States for their recognition and to guarantee their differential access to resources.

5. The big mess of COP16: global environmental finance

Discussions related to financial resources for safeguarding biodiversity have been making headlines. Although the target of mobilizing US$200 billion per year by 2030 had already been set, several countries and NGOs have advocated the creation of a new fund under the authority of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This fund would focus on closing the funding gap for biodiversity in developing countries.

Several States and networks representing civil society (South Africa, Colombia, Fiji, Russia, India, Bangladesh, Japan, Vietnam) stated that the resource mobilization strategy and the structures of the GEF (Global Environment Facility) and GBF (Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework) funds are insufficient and inadequate. Some called for an increase in contributions, while others called for reforms to the financial mechanism.

According to Earth Negotiation Bulletin, a newsletter following the negotiations, delegates discussed several existing options, including that the GEF (Global Environment Facility) continue to operate the financial mechanism.  Others underscored the need for a specific instrument to close the biodiversity funding gap, urging concrete discussions for its establishment and operationalization.

“There, so far, we have seen a very strong resistance from the richest countries to create a new fund and to contribute to the $700 billion funding gap for biodiversity,” explained Sergio Chaparro, international coordinator of Dejusticia.

The decisive role of the Global South in the discussions to come

And the resources, for whom? Discussions on financing also asked about mechanisms that would enable more direct participation of indigenous peoples and local communities by promoting direct access to resources. On this point, delegates from the Global South have expressed particular commitment and interest.

The African group, in particular the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa, again called for a specific fund for biodiversity. They also reflected the region’s commitment to the implementation of the CBD and the Global Framework for Biodiversity.

South Africa and Colombia emphasized that the GBF remains inadequate and supported a global instrument dedicated to biodiversity financing.

In this regard, Chaparro explains that it is necessary to modify international law so that the rules of cooperation allow countries in the Global South, such as Colombia, to prosper and advance at the same time with natural restoration and decarbonization.

The high-level segment of COP16 began today, Tuesday, October 29. In this scenario, representatives of several countries will lead the negotiations. As announced by the Colombian Minister of Environment, Susana Muhamad, six heads of state, five foreign ministers, 114 ministers, 33 vice-ministers and 25 other high-level representatives are in Cali.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, also present in Cali, delivered a speech that sets the tone for this week’s negotiations: “We cannot afford to leave Cali without commitments to build on the substance of the biodiversity framework and without a commitment to mobilize other sources of private and public finance to develop the framework to its full potential”.